Midway installing new runway safety system

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Midway International Airport is installing a new safety system to replace an older one to help prevent planes from overshooting the runway.

It will be the first airport in the world to use the new system.

The Chicago Tribune reports that crews will place a bed of lightweight glass rocks beyond the end of a runway.

If a jet rolls over it, it crumbles and brings the plane to a halt.

The current safety system, which is made of crumbling concrete, is too expensive to maintain.